Modest but engaging 'haunted house' effort with all the typical trappings: sinister custodian, lookalike descendant, possession, séance, ghost, grave-digging, atonement over past crime, etc.
The film was the unsold pilot (running 52 minutes) for a proposed TV series, though the title was later adopted by a feature-length anthology (also for the small screen) by its creator, Dan Curtis; in fact, I acquired this along with that one and I intend the latter's viewing to follow presently. Despite the uncinematic look (redolent of early video quality), the result conjures up sufficient atmosphere and tension throughout (technically via lighting, production design, sound and music and thematically as much by way of conjecture as action scenes) to keep one solidly entertained.
The rest of the protagonists are a couple of men with a passion for and knowledge of the esoteric (one is played by ex-Sinbad Kerwin Mathews, gracefully aged, and the other an Indian) – whom the leading lady calls upon to 'investigate' her brand-new legacy. By the end of the picture, apart from the fact that she starts having mutual feelings for the hero, her companions ask the woman to join their 'business' since, during her tenure inside the house (which obviously goes up in flames at the climax), she had proved especially receptive to the supernatural!
The film was the unsold pilot (running 52 minutes) for a proposed TV series, though the title was later adopted by a feature-length anthology (also for the small screen) by its creator, Dan Curtis; in fact, I acquired this along with that one and I intend the latter's viewing to follow presently. Despite the uncinematic look (redolent of early video quality), the result conjures up sufficient atmosphere and tension throughout (technically via lighting, production design, sound and music and thematically as much by way of conjecture as action scenes) to keep one solidly entertained.
The rest of the protagonists are a couple of men with a passion for and knowledge of the esoteric (one is played by ex-Sinbad Kerwin Mathews, gracefully aged, and the other an Indian) – whom the leading lady calls upon to 'investigate' her brand-new legacy. By the end of the picture, apart from the fact that she starts having mutual feelings for the hero, her companions ask the woman to join their 'business' since, during her tenure inside the house (which obviously goes up in flames at the climax), she had proved especially receptive to the supernatural!